Internal-combustion engine



Dec. 26, 1922. 1,439,958.

W. ALGILE.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

man MAY 9, 1916. 4 snzers-sum l- Dec. 26, 1922.

W. A. GILE.

INTERNAL comsusnow ENGINE.

4 SHEETSSHEE] 2- FILED MAY 9,1916.

Dec. '26, 1922. 1,439,958. W. A- GILE.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

mm MAY 9. 191a. 4 sums-sum 3.

7 f I I \P 7 1 HD/ J a ,m

Dec. 26, 1922. 1;439,958.

W. A. GILE.

INTERNAL coms usnou ENGINE.

FILED MAY 9. 9]6- 4 SHEETS-SHEET W/Ef/ 717R:

Patented Dec. 26, 1922.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. GILE, OF CLIFTONDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGTWOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO GEORGE K. WOODWOE'EH, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Application filed May 9, 1916. Serial N0. 96,421.

To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I,YWILLIAM A. GILE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cliftondale, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and more especially to engines of the combined pump and motor cylinder type, either single or double acting, and its object is to provide a simple and eflicient means actuated by the main crank for controlling the motion of the sub-piston.

The drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification show an illustrative'embodiment of my invention, but it is to be understood that the construction herein particularly described may be widely varied without departing from the scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

in the drawings Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sect-ion of a single-acting engine embodying myimproved sub-piston control. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4;, 5 and 6 are diagrams showing the positions of the n'ioving parts at various points in the cycle.

in the particular drawings selected for more fuliy disclosing my invention 1 rep resents a frame, herein shown as a two-part casing having its parts connected by the bolts 2 and enclosing the lower portion of the engine. Secured to the top of the easing by the bolts 3 is a cylinder 4, the lower end of which is open and projects into said casing and the upper end of which is closed by the head 5 attached by the bolts 6 and is provided with a number of fuel passages or flutes 7 arranged lengthwise in its bore and communicating withthe combustion cham her A. Any suitable number of flutes, say from 16 to 20, more or less, maybe used. A spark-plug 8 is screwed into the cylinder head, its points projecting into the combustion chamber, and the cylinder and head are water-jacketed as shown at 9, 10.

Arranged to reciprocate within the cylinder is a power piston 11, hereinshown as a trunk piston or plunger, anda double pitman 1.2 engages the pin 13 secured in the walls thereof and connects said piston to the wristpin 14 of the crank 15 to transmit the power developed in the cylinder to the main crank shaft 16 journaled in the bearings 17 integralwith the engine frame. A relativelylight, imperforate or valveless sub-piston 18 is arranged to reciprocate within the cylinder between the power piston and the combustion chamber, and its rod 19 passes through and is guided by a longitudinal bore in the central core of the power piston, its lower end being pivotally connected to the double link 20 which in turn engages the arm 21 of the rock shaft 22 journaled in the sides of the frame and passing across the latter above the main shaftand to the rear thereof. A. rod 23 connects the shorter arm 24 on said rock shaft with the arm 25 integral with the rock shaft 26 which is journaled between the frame and a block 27 rising from the base of said frame. The hub 28 of the connecting rod 29 is in engagement with the wrist pin of the crank, being arranged between one arm of said crank and the box of the pitman 12, and is pivotally connected with the longer arm of the rock shaft 26.

The cylinder has an exhaust passage 27' controlled by the inwardly-opening valve 28' normally held to its seat by the spring 29 which surrounds the valve-stem PM and bears against the valve housing and the collar 31 on said stem. The valve may be opened by any suitable mechanism, such, for example, as the tappet 32 actuated by the cam 83 which co-operates with the head 84 thereof, gearing (not shown) being employed to connect the cam-shaft 85 with the crank-shaft.

The fuel inlet 86 is located a short distance above the lower end ofthe power piston when the latter is in explosion position at the end of its lip-stroke, as shown in Fig. 2, and may be connected to any suitable source of fuel.

It will be understood of course that the foregoing detailed description comprises various elements which in the precise form shown in the drawings and described here in are not essential to my invention and that By means of the flutes or fuel passages 7 I secure an intimate and substantially perfect mixture of the fuel charge and this results in practically complete combustion. As the power piston approaches the head of the sub piston the charge which is contained in the space between these two elements is compressed and forced by'suc'h com= pression around the advancing head of the sub-piston through the restri'c'ted passage afforded by the flutesor fuel passages and is shot with great force against the cylinder head in a number of relatively small streams. ,An explosion of the compressed charge in the combustion chamber acts directlyon the head of the sub-piston and by thelatter communicated to the power piston; It is absolutely necessary that the two pistons shall travel at the same rate of speed without the slightest relativemovemcnt until the sub-piston shall have coyered the inner ends of the flutes. The reason for this willbo obvious from an inspection of Fig. 1 in which the parts are shown in the position occupied immediately prior to ignition in the combustion chamber A. Should the power-piston begin to move away from the sub-piston before-the latter covers the inner ends of the flutes, a portion of the effect of the explosion willbe exerted against the lower face of said sub-piston in opposition to the force exerted'on'the upper face'thereof. it is essential/also that the subsequent relatiye movement between the pistons be created positively.

.The positive relative movement of the sub-piston with respect to the power piston is created by the main cranl'r which communicates the necessary motion to the subp'iston through the connecting rod 29 the two rock-shaftsflb, '22 and their arms, the rod 23 and the link 20, The operation of these elements will be explained with reference to Figs. 3, it, h and 6, on which the several moving parts are indicated by lines identified by reference numerals corresponding to those used on Figs. 1 and 2 and provided with exponents 1, IL Ill etc, to designate the successive positions of said parts. v i

'When both pistons are at the upper ends of their strokes (explosion. position) as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and El, and the charge compressed in thecomhustion chamber, the valve 28 being closed, the charge is fired and the resulting explosion causes both pisf tons to descend at thesame initialprate of speedrand without any relative movement until the crankwhich rotates in the direction: of the arrows, has passed from its initial positionlfif (Fig. to point a little less than 13:3degrees therefrom. .The sub-- piston having reached substantially the end of its down-stroke now begins to and the power plston, continuing its scent, moves away therefrom until the crank has passed about degrees from its lnitial POSlhlOIl to 15 (Fig. 4)Ythe crank now being in line with the connecting rod 29 which now. has the position 29. The sub-piston has now reached the lower end of its stroke at 18 with its lower face just above the fuel inlet and the upper face of the power piston is just below said inlet.

The power piston continues its descent until it reaches position 11., the end of its down-stroke (Fig. 5) the crank now being at 15", but immediately after the crank arrived at 15 and while the power piston was descending from 11" to 11", the subpiston began to ascend, the rock-shaft 26 being; rotated counter-clockwise by themoverne'nt of the crank beyond 135 degrees and thereby forcing the it rod 23 u wardly; so that in the position of the parts repre sented in 5 the power piston is liibflmntarily stationary and the sub-piston moving upwardly. The relative movement between the pistons creates a vacuum or a partial vacuum in the space between the same and a charge of fuel is drawn into said space, and, as will be evident, the pumpingaction which sucks in the charge is caused mainly by the rapid upward movementof the subpiston, for the power piston travels but a short distance from the position it occupies at theend of the down stroke of the sub-piston to its position 11, which is the end of its own down-stroke. The exhaust Valve 28 opens practically simultaneously with or preferably shortly before the 00111- mencement of the up-strokejof the sub-piston and the burnt gases of thevpreceding explosion are mechanically expelled by'the latter. The crank continuing its clockwise rotation the power piston. ascends, and.

h the former reacl boint 15'. g, 6) about E24-l0 dco my:

position, the sub-pistoi'r has arrived at en plosion pos1t1 1 n,the arms J5, limit-Mill, 'lLllQii being in their respective initial positions.

.From this point until the crank reaches its the position 15" will cause the power piston ill) to cover the fuel inlet whereupon it begins to compress the charge in the space between its upper face and the lower face of the subpiston. A portion of the gas so compressed passes around the head of the sub-piston through the flutes to the combustion chamby shooting the charge against the cylinder head in a plurality of relatively small streams and effecting the thorough mixture of the same, until the crank having arrived at 15, its up-stroke is completed, whereupon ignition occurs and the cycle is repeated, there being one explosion at the end of every up-stroke or one per revolution of the crankshaft.

It will be obvious that by duplicating the sub-piston control apparatus, my invention may be applied to a double-acting engine having two sub-pistons, one on each side of the power piston.

While I have described in detail the relative movement of the parts which I have found to be satisfactory in practice, it will be understoodthat I do not limit myself specifically thereto, for said parts may be variously adjusted and timed and other cycles may be effected.

I claim:

1. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a power piston and an imperforate sub-piston, both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, said sub-piston being located between the combustion chamber and said power piston, a main shaft provided with a crank, means for controlling said sub-piston positively throughout the entire cycle, a member connecting said means directly to said crank, and means piv-- otally connecting said power piston to said 2. an internal combustion. engine comprising a "cylinder, a power piston and an imperforate sub-piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, said sub-piston being located between the combustion chamber and said power piston, a main shaft provided with a crank, means actuated di- F rectly by said crank for controlling said sub-piston positively throughout the entire cycle, and a" pitman connecting saidpower piston to said crank.

3. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder provided with a combustion chamber at one end only, an imperforate sub-piston and apower piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, said sub-piston having a single head located between said combustion chamber 'pitman connecting said power and said power piston, a main shaft'having a crank, means actuated directly by said crank for'controlling saidsub-piston, and a piston to said crank. I

4L. internal. combustion engine comprising aeylinder, a power piston and an imperforate sub-piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank and means actuated directly by said crank for causing positive movement of said pistons at the same initial rate of speed for a substantial portion of the power stroke and for causing,subsequently, positive relative movement between the same.

An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a power piston and an imperforate sub-piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank and means actuated directly by. said crank for causing positive movement of said pistons initially at the same rate of speed without relative movement for a substantial portion of the power stroke and subsequently at different rates of speed.

6. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a power piston and a subpiston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft havinga crank, a rock-shaft journaled in proximity thereto, two arms on said rock-shaft, a connecting rod pivotally engaging said crank and one of said arms, a second rock-shaft journaled in proximity to said main shaft, two arms on the last mentioned rock-shaft, a rod connecting the second arm of the first mentioned rock-shaft to one of the arms of the second rock-shaft and a link connecting the other arm of the second rock-shaft to the rod of said sub-piston;

7. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, at power piston and a sub-piston both arranged to reciprocate within. said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank, a rock-shaft journaled below said main shaft, two arms on said rockshaft, a connecting rod pi votally engaging said rrai'ik and one of said arms, a second rock-shaft journaled above said main shaft. two arms on the last mentioned rock-shaft, a rod connecting the second arm of the first mentioned rock-shaft to one of the arms of the second rock-shaft and a link connecting the other arm of the second rock-shaft to the rod of the said sub-piston.

8. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a power piston and a sub-piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank, a rock-sliaft journale'd below said main shaft, two arms of unequal length on said rock-shaft, a connecting rod pivotally engaging said crank and the longer arm of said i'ockshaft, a second rock-shaft journaled above said main shaft, two arms of unequal length on the last mentioned rockshaft, a rod connecting theshorterarm of the first mentioned rock-shait to the shorter arm of the second rock-shaft anda link pivotally connecting the longer arm of the second rock-shaft to the rod of said sub-piston.

9. An internal combustion engine vcomprising a cylinder, a power piston and an imperiorate sub-piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank, and means actuated'directly by said crank for causing said pistons to travel at the same rate of speed until the sub-piston reaches substantially the end of its power stroke and for causing, subsequently, positive relative movement between the same.

10. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a power piston and an imperi'orate SllbePiStOn both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder,- a main shaft having a crank, means actuated directly by said crank for causing said pistons to travel at the same rate of speed until the sub-piston reaches substantially the end of its down-stroke, for causing, subsequently, positive relative movement between the same and for holding the sub-piston substantially stationary at the endiof its up-stroke until the power piston completesits upstroke.

11. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder provided with a'combustion chamber at one end only, an'imperforate sub-piston and a power piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, said sub-piston having a single head located between said combustion chamber and said power piston, a main shaft having a crank, means for causing the sub-piston to travel in contact with the power piston during. a sub,-

stantial portion otthe power stroke and for causing, subsequently, positive relative movement between said plstons, and a member connecting said means directly to said :crank.

' 12. An. internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a power piston and a sub piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having av crank, means actuated directly by said crank for causing positive movement of said pistons at-thesameinitial rate of speed without relav tive movement for a substantial portion of the power stroke and for causlng, subsequently, positive relative movement between the same, and means whereby the charge of fuel in said cylinder is transferred under pressure from the-space between said pistons through a restricted passage to the combustion chamber. r I i' 13: An internal combustion engine com.- prising "a cylinder, apow-er piston. and a subpiston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank,

stroke and for causin means actuated directly by said lcrank ior causing positlve movement of said pistons atthe same initial rate of speed without relative movement for a substantial portion of the powerstroke and for causing, subsequently, positiverelative movement between the same, and means whereby thecharge of fuel in saidcyli-nder is mixed during compression. v I a l 14. An internal combustion engine comprisinga cylinder, a power piston and a sub-piston I both arranged to reciprocate withinsaid cylinder, a main shaft having a crank, means actuated directly by said crank ior causing positive n'iovement of said p stons at the same in tial rateoi speed without one end thereof, a power piston and a subrelative movement for a substantial portion piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a "crank and means actuated directlyby said crank for causing positive movement of said pistons at the same initial rate "of speed without .relative movement for a substantial portion of the power stroke and for causing, subsequently, positive relative movement be tween the same. l y

l6. ,An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder havinga plurality of fuel passagesarranged in its bore-nearone end thereof, said fuel passages connnunicating withthe combustion chamberof the engine, a power piston and sub-piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank and means actuated ifl-irectly by said crank for causing posi- 'tive movement of said pistons at the same initial rate 0! speed withcmt relative movement tor a substantial portion oithe power subsequently, posn tive relative movement between the same.

17. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder provided with a combustion chamber, any nnperiorate 'subpiston and a power piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, said sub plstonv being located'between said combus-- tion chamber and said power piston, a main shaft having a crank, means for causing the 18, An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, an imperforate sub-piston and a power piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank, means for causing the sub-piston to travel in contact with the power piston during a substantial portion of the powor stroke and for causing, subsequently, positive relative movement between said pistons, and a member connecting said means directly to said crank. V

19. In a two cycle internal combustion engine, a cylinder having an inlet port near one limit of the plunger movement and an exit port near the opposite limit of the plunger movement, a main plunger connected to a crank shaft and having a reciprocating movement in said cylinder to open and close said inlet port, a valveless supplemental reciprocating plunger movable away from said main plunger when said inlet port is uncovered by the main plunger to eject the spent gas and to introduce fresh combustible gas in advance of the main plunger at each cycle of movement thereof, and ports in the cylinder wall at one end thereof to enable the fresh charge to pass said supplemental plunger.

20. In a two cycle internal combustion engine, a cylinder having inlet and exit ports located near opposite limits of the plunger movement, a main reciprocaltlingj plunger, a valveless supplemental reciprocating plunger movable independently of said main plunger through a portion of the cycle of movement of said main plunger to eject the spent gases from the cylinder and introduce a fresh charge of combustible gas into the cylinder in advance of the forward movement of the main plunger, and means at one end of the cylinder to pass the fresh charge around said supplemental plunger.

21. In a two cycle internal combustion engine, a cylinder having an inlet port near one limit of the plunger movement and an exit port and by-pass ports near the opposite limit of the plunger movement, a main reciprocating plunger, and a light weight valveless supplemental reciprocating plunger movable independently of said main plunger through a portion of the cycle of movement of said main plunger to eject the spent gases from the cylinder and introduce a fresh. charge of combustible gas into the cylinder in advance of the forward movement of the main plunger.

22. In a two cycle internal combustion engine, a cylinder having an inlet port near one limit of the plunger movement and an exit port and by-pass ports near the opposite limit of the vplunger movement, ajmain reciprocating plunger to cover and uncover said inlet port, a valveless supplemental reciprocating plunger, and means to drive said supplemental plunger in the 0pposite direction to that of the main plunger through a portion of the cycle of movement of said main plunger to eject the spent gases from the cylinder and to introduce a fresh charge of combustible gas in advance of the main plunger.

23. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder provided with a combustion chamber, a valveless sub-piston and a power piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, said sub-piston being located between said combustion chamber and said power piston, a main shaft having a crank, means for controlling said subpiston positively throughout the entire cycle, said means being constructed and an ranged for causing the sub-piston to travel in contact with the power piston during a substantial portion of the power stroke and for causing, subsequently, relative move". ment between said pistons, and a member connecting said means directly to said crank.

241:. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a valveless sub-piston and a power piston both arranged to reciprocate within said cylinder, a main shaft having a crank, means for controlling said. sub-piston positively throughout the entire cycle, said means being constructed and arranged for causing the sub-piston to travel. in contact with the power piston during a substantial portion of the power stroke and for causing, subsequently, relative move ment between said pistons, and a member connecting said means directly to said crank.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 22nd day of April,

WILLIAM A. GILE. Witnesses:

GEO. K. WOODWORTH, E. B. ToMLiNsoN. 

